Closing Date: 21st July
Interviews from week commencing 3rd August
Reporting in to Sammy White, Head of Provider Services Operations and working alongside Alison Binalle, Senior Manager in the Historical Grants team, you will join a small, experienced team of seven who are committed to the long-term stewardship of historic capital grant that supports thousands of affordable homes all over England. The team is part of the Homes England Affordable Housing Grants directorate, responsible for delivery of 1,000s of affordable homes every year.
This is a vital role that ensures our grant is always put to good use through recycling it into new affordable homes and, when applicable, that the correct grant is recovered by Homes England to be used again to deliver the homes needed. An annual review is undertaken of the previous financial year's grant transactions, which requires close working with registered providers, completing reconciliations and undertaking analysis to be reported to the Senior Leadership Team.
Working closely with the Senior Manager and Head of Provider Services Operations, you will be responsible for a varied caseload, which includes examining business proposals put forward by providers of affordable housing. The role can be fast paced, working closely with our internal delivery and legal teams, as well as externally, with lawyers and our providers; ensuring Homes England has the appropriate safeguards over its grant funding.
The post holder must have a strong operational focus as well as the ability to highlight matters that have strategic implications for grant recovery and grant recycling, contributing to solutions, escalation and presenting recommendations. Team-working is vital so that our partners get a true end-to-end service, working closely with key stakeholders across the whole of Affordable Housing Grants.
You will hold line management responsibility and are required to support and develop team members with process, policy and regulation implementation, in an ever-evolving regulated sector.
You will help to deliver a first-class customer service and make positive changes to the quality of data held and how it is used. Working in a collaborative and flexible way that values diversity in experience and perspective to foster good decision making and problem solving within their team.
Delivering on a mission as bold as ours isn’t always easy. You will be resilient and comfortable managing stakeholders at a senior level, and your discussions will always be shaped by a good understanding of the commercial and operational impact of what we do in the historical grants team. You will enjoy working in an innovative, fun and engaging way and be able to negotiate and persuade.
You’ll understand how to manage colleagues and be able to demonstrate you can work with others as part of a team in a collaborative, inclusive way. You will have great attention to detail and a natural curiosity to investigate historic policy and programmes. Due to the complex and challenging case load, you will need to be a confident communicator, attending in person meetings, presenting cases to key internal stakeholders and consulting with solicitors.
Your ability to analyse data from various sources is key, as is accuracy and quality of work. You will be able to demonstrate your analytical and problem-solving skills and be a fast learner with a “can do” attitude towards work and overcoming challenges.
The historical grants team are based in a number of Homes England offices. Therefore it is essential that they must be able to travel, to ensure their team are supported.
A legal qualification is not required but it is essential that the postholder has prior experience within the housing sector and operationally managing high-value and high volume. You will have a good understanding of Affordable Homes grant and the importance of the long-term stewardship and security of public funds.
Homes England: The Housing and Regeneration Agency
We believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, we create thriving new places and transform urban areas, combining the full breadth of our powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to bring investment to communities and get more homes built.
How? We form long-term partnerships that bridge the gap between the public and private sector to meet local needs and aspirations. We use our influence to champion the creation of sustainable homes, communities and places that are brilliantly designed for the people that live there now, and in the future. And we use our funding and support to build a more resilient, diverse and innovative housing sector, helping new entrants in the market, encouraging modern methods of construction and design, and promoting the utmost attention to building safety.
Together with our partners, we’re accelerating the pace of house building, remediation and regeneration across the country, as we seek to deliver ever more affordable homes in places people are proud to call home for generations to come.
As well as a competitive salary and 33 days annual leave, we are committed to 50/50 hybrid working. We’ll support you, wherever possible, so that you don’t miss out on what matters to you.
Internal applicants: please note that if you are successful, the salary you are offered will be in accordance with our pay controls and pay policy. You can find these on the recruitment pages of the intranet.
If you ever need a bit of extra help, we have a great employee assistance programme, financial wellbeing support and access to many great discounts with leading high street names.
Our range of network groups are also there to support you to be yourself at work and play a key role in helping shape our future.
If you are a member of a professional body, we’ll pay for your membership and once you get your digital kit, you’ll be good to go.
Homes England are a geographically diverse community. We work to a 50/50 office/ home based model. Moving back into our office environments has enabled us to utilise our space and time together in the most collaborative way.
We would encourage all applicants to apply as soon as possible as we may close vacancies early should we receive a high number of applications.
We also encourage you to apply using the full application option as opposed to quick apply, this is especially important if you would like to indicate to us that you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme.
If your application is shortlisted to interview, we will require you to provide proof of your right to work in the UK at this stage.
